Founding Idea
Tired of “industrial” approaches, many investors are re-discovering the advantages of entrepreneurial asset managers… whose product line however remains limited.
As they are racing for size and profitability, many large asset managers invest more in communication than core activities, or must launch the latest “trendy” product even before investment professionals have figured how they will manage it. Their clients feel forgotten under managerial layers or lost in excessively broad ranges of unattractive products, are rediscovering the merits of specialist boutiques.
These however generally keep both their investments and their marketing focused on their own original market. Investors thus are overwhelmed in domestically-oriented offers, and lack options for more remote markets.
We had a proven know-how in the management of two key markets, which however remain poorly covered by European entrepreneurial asset managers. To combine it with the dynamic, motivating backdrop of a human-scale structure, we created Graphene Investments.
Just like the stocks we select, the products we offer are those we believe in, and know we can manage well. We want to remain a boutique asset manager, not a fund supermarket.
We only do ourselves what we consider as our core value-added. The rest is outsourced to carefully selected service providers. We thus remain fully focused on what impacts customer satisfaction.
In our job, nothing matches the reference points that only years in multiple market conditions help acquire. Our co-founders, who have both been in asset management for more than 20 years, work with a team of seasoned professionals.
Our managers are involved both financially (they own most of the company) and technically (through an operational role). Their strategic decisions thus integrate both a long-term vision and a hands-on understanding of practical constraints.
Our Values
The way they express them may vary, but investors’ core expectations are simple and universal.
Experience and complementarity make Graphene Investments’ two co-founders well aware of such expectations.
Hubert Goyé spent almost twenty years at one of Europe’s leading asset managers, heading the International Equity team and personally managing its two flagship strategies, while maintaining a close involvement in the relationship with institutional clients.
Christophe Garon specializes in organization and systems in finance. For more than 15 years, he helped strengthen administrative processes and enhance client service at several large asset managers.
As we started from scratch, we designed every detail with no other constraint in mind than meeting investors’ three key expectations.
As a serene working atmosphere and the quality of investment processes are the two key pillars of long-term performance, our product line is kept intentionally small. Our professionals remain fully focused and work within an organization designed to support them. We apply robust, proven processes and continue to invest in enhancing them.
Because each investor will always know his own needs better than we do, and because these needs may evolve, our idea of service is based primarily on being open, available and responsive. Our set-up and our tools were designed to ensure that such availability won’t interfere with investment professionals’ dedication to their clients’ portfolios.
To build long-term relationships with clients, we never do anything that we could be tempted to hide. Of course, we don’t take advantage of turnover to discreetly generate a supplemental income and, in the event of any administrative error, investigation reports would be made available to customers.
Our Specialties
Even in a global economy, it remains risky for an investor to limit his investments to his own region of origin.
While the elimination of distances has increased dependencies among the majors economic basins, it did not suppress structural, sectoral and political gaps. International diversification thus remains necessary in building a balanced portfolio.
Meanwhile, the availability of protection solutions (derivatives, hedged shares) has made the excuse of currency risk obsolete, and allows everyone to control FX exposure.
We specialize in two key markets, the USA and Japan (which together represent about 70% of the world’s total market capitalization), and aim to be the neighborhood portfolio manager of investors who understand the benefits of these overseas investments.
From worldwide leaders to highly specialized, innovative companies, US exchanges are full of investment opportunities. Moreover, these are supported by structural advantages, such as a business-friendly regulatory environment, a responsive central bank and a culture of shareholder value among company managers.
Despite two decades of deep crisis, Japan still retains a strong position in a number of specialties. The country and its fascinating culture are now undergoing major structural reforms. With its many connections to Asia, whose growth is poised to continue, the largest stock exchange outside the USA will sooner or later create a surprise.
There will never be many things here because we don’t believe in trying to be a specialist of everything, but we have identified a few strategies that we would like to offer one day. When their development has been completed, we will be happy to present them… but this will certainly take several years because we like to do things thoroughly.